A closer look at Sekford watches

A closer look at Sekford watches

Another young brand is supposedly challenging the establishment with a series of sleek and minimal timepieces. But does it offer enough to make it worth consideration? We take a closer look.

Much like other fashionable start-up brands, Sekford too believes that “quality and luxury should be accessible to the many.” That’s a noble cause for the young British brand, which was also looking to channel a bit of nostalgia to make a connection with consumers.

Take, for instance, the brand name, which references Sekforde Street in Clerkenwell, London. Back in the good old days, the area used to be a hub of world watchmaking.

Of course, those days are long gone and the odds are that today anything that has to do with quality watchmaking probably has something to do with Switzerland. In this case, their watches are produced at workshops in Biel, Switzerland. And as a result, Sekford watches can be found outfitted with the Swiss Made Ronda 702 quartz movements.

No doubt, then, that these watches are arguably more Swiss than British. In fact, they comply with the more stringent 2017 regulation for what ‘Swiss Made’ actually means.

Another thing that is Swiss about these watches is their price. They initially launched with the minimalist Type 1A, with some models retailing around the 1,000 Swiss franc range. But the brand seems to be focusing its energy on the market in the 500-600 Swiss franc range.

For example, 6 references in stainless steel cases now sell for a price of 539 Swiss francs (USD $542 at the time of writing). Add gold PVD to those same watches, and the price increases to 605 Swiss francs.

Adding a nicer leather strap to the base stainless steel model, on the other hand, demands a price of about 875 Swiss franc. When both a nicer leather strap and gold PVD coating are included, the price can get up to 1,000 Swiss francs.

Still, despite a stainless steel and gold PVD case matched with a nice handmade English leather strap, even the highest range model is powered by a Swiss quartz movement. At that price point I think that a mechanical movement would have been a nice option, even if it was sourced from Japan.

Moreover, all of their watches sport mineral crystals. I feel that at their prices a sapphire crystal should be a common courtesy, even for the base models.

Yes, the watches are all hand-finished, they are Swiss made, and they come with very nice minimalist dials available in several sleek colourways. But for everything you get for the flagship Type 1A model, I also bet you can get a lot more bang for your buck elsewhere.